Elements
Timelines are built from three element types: events, spans, and eras. Each is created from the New menu in the sidebar or by right-clicking on the canvas. Elements can be organized further using tags and groups.
Date fields accept years, calendar dates, and dynamic keywords that track the present. See Dates for the formats and how to write them.
Elements are edited in the right panel. Common properties are always shown; optional ones such as coordinates, thumbnail, icon, line and border style, and visibility options appear once set, or when added with + Add property. See Interface.
Colors
The color picker shows your Favorites, the current Theme's colors, and colors already used In this timeline, so matching colors across elements is a click. Use the star in the picker to add or remove a favorite.
An event uses its parent span's color unless you give it its own; click the revert button in its color field to go back to the inherited color. To color many elements at once, use Apply Color to Elements on a tag or group (see Organization).
Converting
Right-click an event and choose Convert to Span to turn it into a span that starts at its date and runs for one year, month, or day, matching the date's precision, ready for you to set the real end. Right-click a span and choose Convert to Event to turn it into an event at its start date; its end date and span relationships are dropped. Both work from the canvas and the sidebar.
Events
An event marks a single point in time. It appears as a labeled marker on the canvas at its date.
Properties:
- Name - the event label
- Date - a single year or calendar date
- Approximate - prefixes the displayed date with a circa marker, see Dates
- Tags - for filtering and color-coding
- Group - which display group the event belongs to
- Parent span - optionally associate the event with a span that contains it
- Line style - solid, dashed, dotted, or none
- Border style - solid, dashed, dotted, or none
- Map coordinates - latitude and longitude, if map view is enabled
- Notes - an attached Markdown file
- Wiki - a linked MediaWiki URL, displayed inline in the right panel (requires wiki integration to be enabled in timeline settings)
Example:
{
"id": "event-thera-eruption",
"type": "event",
"title": "Thera Volcanic Eruption",
"date": -1627,
"approximate": true,
"parents": ["span-minoan-civilization"],
"tags": ["volcano"],
"eventLineStyle": "dotted",
"eventBorderStyle": "dotted",
"groupId": "g-main",
"noteFile": "thera-eruption.md"
}
Spans
A span represents a named period with a start and end. Spans are the most flexible element type and are suited for dynasties, storylines, character arcs, conflicts, or any continuous thread of time.
Spans support three types of relationships with other spans:
- Branch (
parent) - the span starts within another span's range and is rendered offset above or below it, showing a diverging thread. Multiple branches from the same parent alternate above and below. - Extend (
extendFrom) - the span starts exactly where another span ends and is rendered on the same lane, creating a seamless continuation. - Merge (
mergeParent) - a visual-only connection showing that this span converges into another at its end point. No lane change occurs.
All three relationships, along with an event's parent span, are what the family: filter follows. It isolates a span together with everything descending from it, and Shift-clicking a span on the canvas does the same thing. See Searching.
Properties:
- Name - the span label
- Start / End - year or calendar date
- Approximate start / end - prefixes either end of the displayed range with a circa marker, see Dates
- Color - the span's display color
- Size - thin, normal, or thick
- Tags - for filtering and color-coding
- Group - which display group the span belongs to
- Branch from - ID of the parent span to branch off
- Extend from - ID of the span to continue from
- Merge into - ID of the span to converge with at the end
- Visibility - option to hide the name, date, or both from the canvas
- Map coordinates - latitude and longitude, if map view is enabled
- Notes - an attached Markdown file
- Wiki - a linked MediaWiki URL, displayed inline in the right panel (requires wiki integration to be enabled in timeline settings)
Example:
{
"id": "span-minoan-civilization",
"type": "span",
"title": "Minoan Civilization",
"start": -3000,
"end": -1450,
"approxStart": true,
"approxEnd": true,
"color": "#B8860B",
"tags": ["culture", "politics"],
"groupId": "g-main",
"noteFile": "minoan-greece.md"
}
Eras
An era is a large-scale categorization that provides context across a broad period of time. Unlike spans, eras don't belong to a group.
When eras overlap in time, they are stacked automatically. Shorter eras are placed above longer ones that contain them, touching edge to edge. This happens without any manual configuration, so nesting eras of different scales (e.g. a century inside a millennium) will stack them correctly on the canvas.
Properties:
- Name - the era label
- Start / End - year or calendar date
- Approximate start / end - prefixes either end of the displayed range with a circa marker, see Dates
- Fuzzy start / end - fades out that edge of the band instead of drawing a hard boundary, for an era whose bounds are uncertain
- Color - the era's display color
- Size - normal, thick, or extra thick
- Tags - for filtering and color-coding
- Visibility - option to hide the name, date, or both from the canvas
- Map coordinates - latitude and longitude, if map view is enabled
- Notes - an attached Markdown file
- Wiki - a linked MediaWiki URL, displayed inline in the right panel (requires wiki integration to be enabled in timeline settings)
Example:
{
"id": "era-bronze-age",
"type": "era",
"title": "Bronze Age",
"start": -3000,
"end": -1100,
"color": "#e6d1b7",
"noteFile": "bronze-age.md"
}
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